Page 85 of Chained

Cleo’s thoughts are churning, and I can’t get a grip on what her plan is, but I do as she asks, and as we approach Klynn, he turns with a snarl.

“Stand down, gladiator!” I whisper hoarsely. “Is there anyone else here?”

“There was.” Klynn thrusts his dripping sword at the two bodies. “Cannon got them.”

The state of his blade says otherwise, but who could know.

“What’s the field of fire?” Cleo asks quickly.

“Here.” Klynn grunts. “And there.” He waves his blade at a scorch mark on the crystal.

She looks around the entranceway. This is as close as I’ve ever been. The doorway to the vault is mostly concealed behind the crystal. The only indication it is present are the cannon which protect it. Cleo pulls a small square from her clothing.

“Disruptor?” Klynn grunts with an element of glee.

“Not exactly. This one won’t cause an explosion,” she says.

Both Klynn and I rattle our primaries. He huffs disappointedly.

“It’s designed to disrupt electrical impulses, and it should disable the sensors attached to the cameras,” she says, studying the cannon and moving swiftly to the opposite wall where she presses the disruptor onto the crystal.

“EMP,” Klynn rasps. I stare at him. He shrugs and spins his sword in his hand.

“Stand back,” Cleo says. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure this will work.”

I enclose her with my wing, and the square slowly cycles through black, red, blue, and finally green.

Nothing happens.

Next to me, Klynn heaves a sigh, raises his sword, and then throws it at the door. It impacts with a thud, burying itself in the stone and vibrating to a halt.

“Works,” he says, walking into the kill zone before either of us can stop him.

The cannons don’t fire.

“It worked,eregri.” I gather her in my arms. “It didn’t kill Klynn.”

But Cleo is still looking at the square on the wall.

“Maxym, it didn’t do anything, look.” She points at the thing.

It’s continuing to cycle.

“We need to move!”

With two beats of my wings, I’m behind Klynn, slamming him to one side and using his sword to lever the doors open. I shove Cleo inside and grab hold of him, pulling him with me as the cannon swings our way and fires. The blast sends us sliding back into the vault.

“Cleo!” I call her name as the cannons fire again, filling the space with pulsar mist and the scent of ozone.

Klynn spins on his back next to me as I scramble to my feet, my boots slipping on the shiny floor as I attempt to get back to Cleo. It’s only when I gain purchase that I realize the firing has stopped.

Cleo walks towards me out of the dust. She is unharmed.

“What…?”

“I turned them off. There’s a console inside the door.” She jerks her thumb over her shoulder.

I capture her chin between my thumb and forefinger, lifting her face up to mine.

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